A look ahead: Examining the shifts in the COVID-19 conversation

For brands and consumers alike, a return to normal is unlikely to occur any time soon. As of May 5, there are over 3.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and few countries (if any) are prepared to return to business as usual.

But even as COVID-19 continues to ravage countries all over the world, how people are talking about the crisis is changing. People are anxious to return to their normal lives and conversations around when the lockdowns will end are gaining traction on social. In Italy, mayors are taking to Twitter to lambast civilians disobeying stay-at-home orders; and in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, people are taking to the streets to protest extended quarantine policies.

Marketers have already adjusted their social strategies in response to COVID-19. Now, they find themselves having to reevaluate and readjust once more as consumer behaviors and conversations evolve. But with the majority of the world still under lockdown and people growing increasingly restless, what are marketers to do?

To help answer these questions and more, we dove once more into Sprout Social’s Featured Listening Topic to better understand people’s behaviors and how certain industries continue to navigate this pandemic.

From #StayAtHome to #EndTheLockdown

Lockdown fatigue is on the rise

At the beginning of the year, Twitter was filled with conversations related to staying home and COVID-19 virus. But from March to April, the topic volume around COVID-19 dropped 39% even though the number of confirmed cases more than doubled from one million to 2.7 million.

Around the same time, the conversation around testing kits and vaccines shifted. Data from the Sprout Social Featured Listening topic reveals discussion around vaccines hit a message volume high around mid-March before falling around the beginning of April.

But after several weeks of quarantine and stay-at-home orders, people are growing increasingly restless to return to their normal lives. The beginning of April saw social conversations around ending the lockdown gain steam, growing 268% from March to April. Additionally, engagements in “end the lockdown” conversations increased by 353% from March to April, with message volume peaking on April 21, the same day several states announced their plans to reopen.

Not everyone is ready to reopen

Despite an increase in lockdown fatigue, people remain conflicted about the idea of states reopening. We noticed a 7% decrease in positive sentiment surrounding “end the lockdown” conversations once states began to relax their guidelines and the usage of the hashtag #StayHome increased by 21%.

These conversations became even more emotionally charged when we looked at what was happening at a state-by-state level in the US. Adding the keyword “state” to the “end the lockdown” conversation saw a 483% increase in negative sentiment and a 456% increase in messages during the month of April. Conversations around reopening are likely to take center stage as states like Florida and Texas let their stay-at-home orders expire.

Texas is “opening” tomorrow and we just had our highest day of #COVID19 cases

How three industries are responding to COVID-19

Every industry has had to adjust its operations in the face of this pandemic. Restaurants have pivoted to curbside pick-up and takeout orders only, while those in the fitness industry have switched to online training models.

In the following section, we’ll take a closer look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted three different industries and how brands have responded.

Higher Education

From January to March, higher education generated 8.4 million mentions, with conversation volume peaking around March 12 as universities across the country announced campus closures and students aired their concerns over being kicked off campus on such short notice.

Northwestern will be extending Spring Break by one week, and when classes resume on April 4, they will be conducted remotely for at least three weeks. For the latest information and resources, please visit: https://t.co/MjXzd1T8Uhpic.twitter.com/9atHTSi2EE

Harvard just gave students 5 days to pack all of their things, move out, and go home. many can't go home because of costs and travel restrictions, and they've provided no guidance. and we're expected to go to class for the rest of this week.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the top keywords used when discussing COVID-19 and higher education was “online,” as students and faculty alike navigate virtual classrooms together. For graduating seniors especially, recent conversations have centered around cancelled graduations and the move to online ceremonies.

UCLA’s College commencement and all campus graduation ceremonies will be virtual this year, as we work to limit the spread of #COVIDー19 and protect our family and friends who would have joined us. Please remember: the day does not define the journey.https://t.co/sXLi3JVafZ

In response, brands and high-profile celebrities are taking matters into their own hands to celebrate young graduates. YouTube is hosting a graduation livestream with commencement speakers including Barack and Michelle Obama and Lady Gaga, while beer brand Natural Light plans to host its own commencement event on Facebook Live.

Higher education garnered over 14.6 million mentions across 3.5 million unique authors through mid-May of 2020.

The top keywords used when discussing COVID-19 and higher education include “online,” “university,” “people,” “college,” “students,” and “time.”

Healthcare

Few industries have been hit harder by the virus than the healthcare industry. From January to April, there were over 69.7 million conversations around healthcare and COVID-19 by 12.2 million unique authors in Sprout’s Featured Listener.

While overall sentiment skews positive, much of the negative conversations around healthcare focus on the challenges healthcare professionals face. Thirty-five percent of the healthcare conversation is negative, with topics like slowing the spread and the sacrifices of healthcare workers attracting the most engagement.

Thank you everyone for your incredible messages of support and encouragement.♥️

Many of you asked what it was like in the ER right now. I want to share a bit with you. Please RT:

A Day in the Life of an ER Doc – A Brief Dispatch from the #COVID19 Frontline:

On a more positive note, brands are taking to social media to demonstrate their support and gratitude for healthcare workers around the world. McDonald’s, inspired by New Yorkers who applaud healthcare workers every evening, has Tweets with the clapping hand emoji scheduled to send every night at 7pm.

Prominent celebrities have also joined in on the virtual celebrations. Athletes like Wayne Gretzky and Donovan Mitchell are sharing photos of their jerseys with their names replaced with that of a doctor or nurse on their social channels using the hashtag #TheRealHeroes. Beloved Red Sox player David Ortiz has teamed up with local Boston organizations to donate food and other essentials to first responders.

Day 3‼️ I kno that the Boston Fire Department work so hard man…I wanted to make sure that they hydrated and got the tools to help them recover… so my friends at @O4Oxigen water donated 3,000 bottles to the Boston Fire Department!! Thank a first responder today #ThankYourHeroespic.twitter.com/KcfOTjSNOo

In addition to recognizing healthcare workers by name, several brands are using their social platforms to give back to doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals. PUMA, for example, donated over 20,000 pairs of sneakers to healthcare workers while EOS donated over 100,000 hand creams to New York hospital workers. And popular coffee chain Dunkin’ Donuts recently shared their give-back initiative providing free coffee and donuts to doctors and nurses.

In honor of #NationalNursesDay, we’re giving a FREE Medium Hot or Iced Coffee & a Donut to all nurses & healthcare professionals today, May 6th at participating Dunkin’ locations, no ID required. ☕️🍩 Thank you to the brave nurses protecting all of us. ❤️👏 pic.twitter.com/myY0O77kPG

Conversations around healthcare and COVID-19 generated 69.7 million mentions and over 1.7 trillion social impressions from 1/1/20-5/13/20.

Healthcare mentions spiked in mid-March as the discussion around testing began to increase, with the words “test,” “testing,” and “test” mentioned 179,000 times on March 13.

Retail

With consumers still stuck at home, the demand for online shopping and delivery services is higher than ever before. From January to mid-May, the conversation around retail generated over 6.1 million social mentions across 2.6 million unique authors in Sprout Listening’s Featured Topic. Retail social mentions then hit a high of 370,150 messages on March 15 as major retailers like Nike and Starbucks announced the indefinite closure of their brick and mortar stores.

Another factor to consider when examining the conversation around retail is the treatment of essential workers. On April 12, we noticed a significant dip in overall sentiment as retail workers took to social to share their concerns about working at essential businesses, like grocery stores, during the pandemic.

Please don’t complain to us that a store you went to asked you to wear a mask.

Our coworkers have died from COVID-19. An unhinged desire to express “individual liberty” is not more important than our lives.

As states increasingly look to lift stay-at-home orders, retailers are also exploring options to safely reopen their doors to customers. Gap, Macy’s and Nordstrom are just a few major retailers with plans to reopen their stores by the end of May while Starbucks in the UK announced its phased reopening beginning May 14.

In line with the latest government guidance, we’re working to reopen our stores in a safe and responsible way. From 14th May, we’ll begin a phased reopening across Britain, beginning with Drive Thru locations and select takeaway-only stores. Find out more https://t.co/y2gtdevcWjpic.twitter.com/70lOQUdRFv

Conversations around retail and COVID-19 peaked with 660.3k mentions between 3/14/20-3/15/20 as non-essential businesses announced temporary closures and reduced business hours.

The top hashtags most frequently used when discussing COVID-19 and retail included #StayAtHome, #Lockdown, #ecommerce and #SocialDistancing.

From March to April, the overall volume of retail conversations on social dropped 50% as people adjusted to the new retail normal.

The COVID-19 conversation remains fluid

Listening data reveals COVID-19 conversations are on the decline, but the fact remains that the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down. And as businesses toy with the idea of loosening their restrictions, new challenges will emerge that brands need to be prepared to face head on. With so much uncertainty still ahead, here are two things all brands should consider:

Stay agile. As much as we’d all like to resume our daily lives, the reality is COVID-19 is sticking around for the long run and the situation can turn on a dime. For brands, maintaining a sense of agility is crucial for surviving this pandemic. Are you able to respond to an overnight shift in consumer behaviors? While COVID-19 conversations are on the decline, is your brand ready for the new challenges that accompany plans to reopen for business? In situations where there is no rulebook on what to do next, brands need to be agile enough to manage and adapt to unexpected change at a moment’s notice.

Keep an eye on state-level conversations. With talks of reopening gaining steam, brands need to pay close attention to what’s happening at the state-by-state level and what their customers are saying. If reopening is in your near future, what precautions are you taking to address some of the concerns of your customers? Or what backup plans do you have in place if you decide not to reopen? Make sure you’re localizing your messages as state plans to reopen take center stage and keeping your customers up to date on the latest happenings for your business.

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Published on May 18, 2020

Katherine Kim: Katherine Kim is a content strategist at Sprout Social where she manages all things Adapt and supports larger content initiatives. When she's not at work, you can find Katherine cheering for the Dodgers or rewatching Avengers: Endgame (again).

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